Automatic operation assistance system and automatic operation assistance method

ABSTRACT

Provided is an automatic operation assistance system comprising: a telematics center ( 1 ) that gives notification to a connected car ( 2 ) in accordance with a request that originated from the connected car ( 2 ), the notification pertaining to the traveling environment of the connected car ( 2 ) from which the request originated and a sensor evaluation value matching an external field sensor ( 22   a ); and the connected car ( 2 ) that changes, on the basis of the sensor evaluation value notified from the telematics center ( 1 ), a process for reflecting recognition data of each external field sensor ( 22   a ) of the connected car on an automatic operation control of the connected car.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No.2016-53211 filed on Mar. 17, 2016, the content thereof is incorporatedherein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an automatic operation assistancesystem and an automatic operation assistance method.

BACKGROUND ART

Navigation apparatuses for showing routes to destinations to car drivershave spread. When searching for a route, a navigation apparatus presentsa plurality of route candidates satisfying various desired conditionsdesignated by a driver such as “as short as possible” and “to avoidusing toll roads as much as possible”.

PTL 1 discloses that a recommended route is to be “a route with thesmallest number of times or the shortest time for the automaticoperation of a vehicle to be interrupted”. For this reason, byincreasing the rate of automatic operation, the driver's burden ofdriving can be reduced.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

PTL 1: JP 2015-175825 A

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Increasing the rate of automatic operation decreases the burden on adriver, but can cause a case in which the operation is not smoothlyperformed in a road environment where the sensor value of an externalfield sensor, which is the input of automatic operation, is notaccurate. On the other hand, increasing the rate of manual operationimproves the stability of the vehicle operation by the driver'sjudgements, but increases the driver's burden of driving. Thus, it isnecessary to properly balance automatic operation and manual operation.

The navigation apparatus disclosed in PTL 1 can set a route that avoidsinterruption sections, in which automatic operation is not recommended,as much as possible. However, there are many places in which a pluralityof selectable routes (bypass roads) is not originally constructed suchas local mountain roads. Thus, it is desirable to reduce the burden onthe driver by adopting automatic operation as much as possible in atraveling environment where automatic operation can be adopted bymethods other than selecting a route.

Furthermore, instead of rough control as to whether automatic operationis adopted, fine control as to how to combine external field sensors,which are the input when automatic operation is adopted, in order tomore stably perform automatic operation control is required.

Thus, a purpose of the present invention is mainly to appropriatelyperform automatic operation control in consideration of thecharacteristics of external field sensors.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve the above problem, an automatic operation assistancesystem of the present invention includes

a center device that manages a database that associates each trafficenvironment in a moving route of a moving body with sensor evaluationvalues each indicating recognition accuracy of a respective one ofexternal field sensors that recognize the corresponding trafficenvironment, and that gives notification to the moving body inaccordance with a request that originated from the moving body, thenotification pertaining to the traffic environment of the moving bodyfrom which the request originated and the sensor evaluation valuesmatching the external field sensors, and

the moving body that changes, on the basis of the sensor evaluationvalues notified from the center device, a process for reflectingrecognition data of the external field sensors of the moving body inautomatic operation control of the moving body.

Other means will be described later.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriatelyperform automatic operation control in consideration of thecharacteristics of external field sensors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram when an automatic operation assistancesystem according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied toa connected car.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing processing of an external-field-sensorevaluation unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3(a) is a plan view showing an example of a route generated by aroute-candidate generation unit. FIG. 3(b) is a table showing evaluationvalues in the route in FIG. 3(a).

FIG. 4(a) is transmission data of sensor evaluation values provided bythe external-field-sensor evaluation unit. FIG. 4(b) is transmissiondata of section evaluation values and route evaluation values providedby a route evaluation unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing when a connected car accordingto an embodiment of the present invention receives each transmissiondata in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing of an external-fieldrecognition unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram when an automatic operation assistancesystem according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied toan autonomous flying body.

FIG. 8(a) is a plan view showing an example of a 3D route on which theautonomous flying body in FIG. 7 flies. FIG. 8(b) is a three-dimensionalview when the 3D route in FIG. 8(a) is viewed from a bird's-eyeviewpoint.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention is described indetail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram when an automatic operation assistancesystem is applied to a connected car 2. Note that, a moving body thatcan perform automatic operation, which is a target of the automaticoperation assistance system, is only required to be communicablyconnected with a telematics center 1, and is not limited to theconnected car 2. In addition, the number of connected cars 2 connectedvia a network 9 is not limited to three as exemplified in FIG. 1. FIG. 1shows the details of the internal configuration of one of the connectedcars 2, but the other two connected cars 2 have the same configuration.

Each device in the automatic operation assistance system is configuredas a computer having a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, astorage means (storage unit) such as a hard disk, and a networkinterface.

In the computer, the CPU executes a program (also referred to as anapplication or app as its abbreviation) loaded into the memory, andwhich operates a control unit (control means) constituted by processingunits.

The telematics center 1 includes an external-field recognition DB 11, aroute-candidate generation unit 12, an external-field-sensor evaluationunit 13, and a route evaluation unit 14.

The external-field recognition DB 11 is a database storing recognitionresults of external field sensors 22 a installed in the surroundings(hereinafter referred to as an “external field”) of the connected car 2.

In the recognition results, “success” means, for example, that anexternal field sensor 22 a can recognize an obstacle (such as a rock)that actually exists ahead of the connected car 2 as “there is anobstacle”, or that the external field sensor 22 a recognize a situationthat nothing exists ahead of the connected car 2 as “there is noobstacle”.

In the recognition results, “failure” is opposite to the above “success”and means, for example, that the external field sensor 22 a recognizes asituation as “there is no obstacle” although an obstacle (such as arock) actually exists ahead of the connected car 2.

In other words, “failure” in the recognition results indicatesrecognition accuracy=0%, and “success” indicates recognitionaccuracy=100%. On the other hand, not only two kinds of recognitionaccuracy such as failure or success but also fine values such asrecognition accuracy=60% may be set.

The external-field recognition DB 11 associates, for each predeterminedenvironment (past time, place, and the like), the information indicatingthe environment with the recognition result of each external fieldsensor 22 a under the environment. The external-field recognition DB 11stores, for example, the following correspondence information.

-   -   Correspondence information: environment “location=exit of tunnel        A, date/time=11:00 a.m. on October 10, weather=rain”→external        field sensor 22 a “obstacle is extracted from images captured by        camera”→recognition result “success, a vehicle traveling ahead        is correctly recognized”.    -   Correspondence information: environment “location=exit of tunnel        A, date/time=11:00 a.m. on October 10, weather=sunny”→external        field sensor 22 a “obstacle is extracted from images captured by        camera”→recognition result “failure, a vehicle traveling ahead        is not recognized due to backlight”.

The processing for determining the recognition result as“success/failure” may be performed automatically by a calculator ormanually by a person, or by using both determinations in combination.For example, if the output of the external field sensor 22 a is “thereis no obstacle ahead”→the output of a manual operation unit 25 of theconnected car 2 is “sudden braking”, the calculator may automaticallydetermine the recognition result as “failure” due to mismatch betweenthe two outputs. Furthermore, a person may visually check thedetermination result of the computer, and finally determine therecognition result as “success/failure”.

When receiving a route generation request from the connected car 2, theroute-candidate generation unit 12 generates route candidates from thecurrent location to the destination. Here, the route candidates aresearched for in consideration of the shortest traveling distance route,the shortest traveling time route, whether automatic operation ispermitted, whether the road is recommended for automatic operation, andthe like. Also, the routes at this point may include not only road-levelroutes by nodes and links, but also lane-level routes.

The external-field-sensor evaluation unit 13 calculates an evaluationvalue (sensor evaluation value) of each external field sensor 22 a foreach route candidate generated by the route-candidate generation unit12, and outputs the sensor evaluation values to the connected car 2 fromwhich the route generation request is originated.

The route evaluation unit 14 calculates the evaluation as to whetherautomatic operation is permitted for each route candidate generated bythe route-candidate generation unit 12 (a section evaluation value foreach section which is a part of the route, a route evaluation valueintegrating the evaluation of all the sections of the route), andtransmits the calculation result to the connected car 2 from which theroute generation request is originated.

The connected car 2 includes an automatic-operation planning unit 21, anexternal-field recognition unit 22, an automatic operation unit 23, anotification unit 24, and a manual operation unit 25. The external-fieldrecognition unit 22 includes one or more external field sensors 22 a, amode switching unit 22 b for each external field sensor 22 a, and aconfiguration change unit 22 c.

The automatic-operation planning unit 21 transmits a route generationrequest to the telematics center 1. The route generation requestincludes at least the vehicle ID, the current location, the destination,and information on the mounted external field sensors 22 a. In addition,the automatic-operation planning unit 21 plans automatic operation(switching automatic operation/manual operation for each section of theroute) based on the evaluation values (the sensor evaluation values, thesection evaluation values, the route evaluation values) included in thereply to the route generation request.

The external field sensors 22 a are sensors such as a camera, amillimeter-wave radar, and an infrared laser, and at least one externalfield sensor 22 a is mounted in the external-field recognition unit 22.Preferably, a plurality of external field sensors 22 a is mounted so asto be able to recognize the surroundings (front, back, sides, and thelike) of the connected car 2, and a plurality of types of external fieldsensors 22 a is mounted so as to be able to compensate the strengths andweaknesses of each sensor.

The mode switching unit 22 b switches, based on the sensor evaluationvalues, modes of each external field sensor 22 a corresponding toitself. Here, the modes mean a recognition mode, a sampling rate, and arecognition parameter of each sensor. For example, when the sensorevaluation value of an in-vehicle camera is low under a certainenvironment, by increasing the sampling rate to improve the quality ofthe image captured by the in-vehicle camera, the reliability of theoutput of the external field sensor 22 a is increased (complemented)regardless of the low sensor evaluation value.

The configuration change unit 22 c changes the contribution degree ofeach external field sensor 22 a to the automatic operation unit 23 basedon the sensor evaluation value of each external field sensor 22 a. Forexample, the configuration change unit 22 c changes the configuration ofthe external field sensor 22 a by not using the recognition result ofthe external field sensor 22 a having a low sensor evaluation value forautomatic operation, or by reducing the importance degree as an inputparameter of automatic operation.

The automatic operation unit 23 performs automatic operation based onthe recognition result recognized by the external-field recognition unit22 and the automatic operation planned by the automatic-operationplanning unit 21.

The notification unit 24 notifies the user of the section set as themanual operation section by the automatic-operation planning unit 21.The trigger for this notification is, for example, at the time ofplanning the automatic operation and before entering the manualoperation section.

The manual operation unit 25 passes the control of the connected car 2to the user in the section set as the manual operation section by theautomatic-operation planning unit 21 to enable the user to control theoperation.

Note that, the data in the same external-field recognition DB 11 may beshared by a plurality of connected cars 2. For example, when receiving aroute generation request from a connected car 2, the telematics center 1may read the history of the external field recognition of anotherconnected car 2 from the external-field recognition DB 11, anddetermine, based on the history, whether the requesting connected car 2is possible to perform automatic operation.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing processing of the external-field-sensorevaluation unit 13.

The external-field-sensor evaluation unit 13 acquires, from the routegeneration request, the information on the external field sensors 22 amounted on the connected car 2 that has requested the route generation(S101).

The external-field-sensor evaluation unit 13 acquires the routecandidates generated by the route-candidate generation unit 12 thatsatisfies the current location and the destination designated by theroute generation request (S102). Then, the external-field-sensorevaluation unit 13 executes a loop for each route candidate in S102(S111 to S133).

The external-field-sensor evaluation unit 13 divides a route candidateselected in the current loop into sections (S112). The sections here canbe sections into which the route candidate is divided based on thecharacteristics of the external field sensors 22 a mounted on theconnected car 2 which has requested the route generation. For example,when a camera is mounted as the external field sensor 22 a, backlight isgenerated near a tunnel exit, and non-detection or false detection canoccur. For this reason, a method for dividing the route candidate so asto make one section near the tunnel is used. In addition, the routecandidate may be divided into sections depending on whether acomplicated traveling technique for automatic operation, such as turningleft/right or changing lanes, is required as compared with straighttraveling.

Then, the external-field-sensor evaluation unit 13 executes a loop foreach section into which the route candidate is divided in S112 (S113 toS132). In the loop, the external-field-sensor evaluation unit 13 furtherexecutes a loop for each external field sensor 22 a acquired in S101(S114 to S131).

The external-field-sensor evaluation unit 13 estimates the travelingenvironment (features of the place such as a traveling place and atunnel exit, weather, time, and the like) of the connected car 2 thathas transmitted the route generation request this time (S121), anddetermines whether external recognition information matching theestimated traveling environment (traffic environment) is recorded in theexternal-field recognition DB 11 (S122). When the external recognitioninformation is recorded (S122, Yes), the external-field-sensorevaluation unit 13 evaluates, by, for example, reading the recognitionresult “success/failure” from the external-field recognition DB 11, theexternal field sensor 22 a in the matching traveling environment (thecorresponding section) from the external-field recognition DB 11 (S123).Then, the external-field-sensor evaluation unit 13 calculates the sensorevaluation value of the evaluates the external field sensor 22 aselected in the loop in S114 by setting the evaluation value to be high(good) as the recognition result is success (S124).

On the other hand, when the external recognition information is notrecorded in S122 (No), the external-field-sensor evaluation unit 13directly calculates the evaluation value in S124. The calculation of theevaluation in S124 is performed by, for example, setting a referencevalue to 10 points or the like, and subtracting one point from thereference value in the case of recognition failure or adding one pointto the reference value in the case of recognition success when thematching external recognition information is recorded in theexternal-field recognition DB 11 in S122. The evaluation of the externalfield sensor 22 a in S123 is performed in consideration of, as thesubtracting factors, the number of false detections and the number ofnon-detections in the same environment, the number of occurrences offalse detection/non-detection, the probability of occurrence, the timestamp and trend of the last occurrence, and the like.

In S141, the external-field-sensor evaluation unit 13 transmits allcalculated route candidates and the evaluation results (sensorevaluation value) for each external field sensor 22 a in all sections tothe connected car 2 that has requested the route generation. That is,the telematics center 1 transmits sensor evaluation values matching thetraveling environment around the connected car from which the request isoriginated and the external field sensors 22 a mounted on the connectedcar 2 to the connected car 2 from which the request is originated toinstruct the connected car 2 to change the automatic operation control.

FIG. 3(a) is a plan view showing an example of a route generated by theroute-candidate generation unit 12.

It is assumed that the route-candidate generation unit 12 generates tworoutes in total of a route “1” passing through a tunnel and a route “1”not passing through a tunnel. It is further assumed, when the route fromthe current location to the destination is divided into sections atlinks (roads between intersections), that the tunnel exists in thesection “5” of the route “1”, and that there is a road with manypedestrians in the section “4” of the route “2” and the external-fieldrecognition DB 11 stores a past failure of the external field sensor 22a in the section “4”.

FIG. 3(b) is a table showing evaluation values in the route in FIG.3(a).

The left-side table in FIG. 3(b) shows a sensor evaluation value foreach external field sensor 22 a calculated by the external-field-sensorevaluation unit 13 in the processing in FIG. 2. Here, in FIG. 3(a), whenit is assumed that the current environment is sunny and daytime,backlight can be generated at the exit of the tunnel, and manypedestrians can be probably in the section “4” of the route “2”. Thus,the sensor evaluation value of the external field sensor “A”, which hasa weakness in backlight, in the section “5” of the route “1” (near thetunnel) is lowered to “3”. Similarly, the sensor evaluation value of theexternal field sensor “B”, which has a weakness in pedestrianrecognition, in the section “4” of the route “2” is lowered to “6”.

In the right-side table in FIG. 3(b), the route evaluation unit 14calculates a section evaluation value of each section of each routebased on the sensor evaluation value in each section. For example, whena plurality of sensor evaluation values exists in the same section ofthe same route, the route evaluation unit 14 sets the maximum value ofthe sensor evaluation values as the section evaluation value. As aresult, the section evaluation value “8” of the section “5” of the route“1” is obtained from the sensor evaluation values “A=3, B=8” in thesection “5” of the route “1”.

However, if the external field sensor 22 a having a high evaluationvalue is unsuitable for performing automatic operation (for example, thedetection distance is short) or the like, the route evaluation unit 14may calculate a section evaluation value for determining whetherautomatic operation is possible using statistical values such as anaverage value and a median value.

The route evaluation unit 14 further sets the average value of thesection evaluation values for each route as a route evaluation value(overall evaluation value) of each route. The route evaluation value isonly required to be calculated in consideration of a statistical valuesuch as an average value, a distance and a length of time of a sectionin which automatic operation can be performed, a complexity of drivingin a section requiring manual operation, and the like.

The route evaluation unit 14 transmits these calculation results (thesection evaluation values and the route evaluation values) to theconnected car 2, and the connected car 2 thereby obtains the evaluationof its each external field sensor 22 a on the provided route. For thisreason, it is possible to change the configurations and modes of theexternal field sensors 22 a in the external-field recognition unit 22 inpreparation for failure of the external-field recognition duringautomatic operation.

FIG. 4(a) is transmission data of sensor evaluation values provided bythe external-field-sensor evaluation unit 13. As shown in FIG. 4(a), thenumber of devices of the external field sensors 22 a mounted on theconnected car 2, the number of routes generated by the route-candidategeneration unit 12, the route ID of the number of routes, and the numberof sections included in the route are stored in the header of a packet,and, after the header, data for section ID=1, data for section ID=2, arestored in that order in the data section.

The section start point and the section end point of each section ID maybe the numbers assigned to nodes (intersections), the positionsspecified by latitude, longitude, or altitude, or the detailed vehiclepositions at the lane level.

FIG. 4(b) is transmission data of section evaluation values and routeevaluation values provided by the route evaluation unit 14. After theheader of a packet similar to FIG. 4(a), each section evaluation valueand the route evaluation value of the route “1”, and each sectionevaluation value and the route evaluation value of the route “2” aresequentially stored in the data section of the packet. By referring tothe data, the connected car 2 can determine whether to permit automaticoperation in the current traveling environment of the connected car 2.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing when the connected car 2receives each transmission data in FIG. 4.

In S201, the connected car 2 receives each data in FIG. 4 (theevaluation of the external field sensors and the evaluation as towhether automatic operation is possible) from the telematics center 1.

In S202, the automatic-operation planning unit 21 sets the route inwhich the route evaluation value (overall evaluation value) in S201 isthe maximum as the route for automatic operation for itself to betravelling on.

Here, in S203 to S207, the automatic-operation planning unit 21 performsprocessing for each section of the route for automatic operation set inS202.

In S204, the automatic-operation planning unit 21 determines whether thesection evaluation value selected in the current loop is larger than thethreshold value Th1.

When the section evaluation value>the threshold value Th1, theautomatic-operation planning unit 21 sets the section as an automaticoperation section and operates the automatic operation unit 23 (S205).

When the section evaluation value the threshold value Th1, theautomatic-operation planning unit 21 sets the section as the manualoperation section and operates the manual operation unit 25 (S206).

Thus, the section in which the possibility of failure of external fieldrecognition is low is set as an automatic operation section, and thesection in which the possibility of failure of external fieldrecognition is high is set as a manual operation section. For thisreason, it is possible to increase the reliability of automaticoperation.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing of the external-fieldrecognition unit 22.

In S301, the external-field recognition unit 22 acquires, from theautomatic-operation planning unit 21, the sensor evaluation valuesreceived from the telematics center 1.

S302 to S321 are a loop to be executed for each section of the route setin S202.

In S303, the external-field recognition unit 22 determines whether thecurrent section is set as the automatic operation section. When thecurrent section is set as the automatic operation section (S303, Yes),the processing proceeds to S311. When the current section is not set asthe automatic operation section (S303, No), the processing for thecurrent section is terminated, and the processing proceeds to S321 forthe next section.

S311 to S316 are a loop executed for each external field sensor 22 amounted on the connected car 2.

In S312, the external-field recognition unit 22 determines whether thesensor evaluation value of the current external field sensor 22 a issmaller than the threshold value Th2. When the answer is Yes in S312,the processing proceeds to S313. When the answer is No, the processingproceeds to S316 to execute the loop for the next external field sensor22 a.

In S313, the external-field recognition unit 22 determines whether it ispossible to increase the recognition capability by changing the mode ofthe current external field sensor 22 a. Here, the mode indicates arecognition mode specific to each external field sensor 22 a, arecognition parameter, a sampling rate, a gain, or the like. When theanswer is Yes in S313, the processing proceeds to S314. When the answeris No, the processing proceeds to S315.

In S314, the external-field recognition unit 22 performs setting so asto change the mode of the current external field sensor 22 a to themode, by which the recognition capability is increased in thecorresponding section, determined in S313.

In S315, the external-field recognition unit 22 performs setting so asto change the configuration of the current external field sensor 22 a inthe corresponding section. Here, the change in configuration means thatthe recognition result of the recognition device in which the evaluationvalue of the external field sensor 22 a is lower than Th2 is not used,or that the importance degree is lowered.

Thus, if there is a section in which the external field recognitioncapability of a specific external field sensor 22 a is low, by changingthe mode or configuration, the external recognition capability as awhole is increased. For this reason, it is possible to increase thereliability of the automatic operation performed by the automaticoperation unit 23.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram when the automatic operationassistance system is applied to an autonomous flying body 2 b. In thisconfiguration diagram, the connected car 2 in FIG. 1 is replaced withthe autonomous flying body 2 b in FIG. 7 as the moving body. Theautonomous flying body 2 b is a small multicopter such as a drone. Thus,in the following description, the differences from FIG. 1 among theconstituent elements shown in FIG. 7 are mainly described.

First, the telematics center 1 includes a 3D-route-candidate generationunit 12 b instead of the route-candidate generation unit 12. Unlikevehicles, autonomous flying bodies travel in a three-dimensional space,and it is necessary to generate three-dimensional routes.

Next, since information on the surroundings recognized by the externalfield sensors 22 a is three-dimensional (in the air), it is desirablethat a plurality of external field sensors 22 a is mounted to recognizethe surroundings (front, rear, upper side, lower side, sides, and thelike) of the autonomous flying body 2 b, or that a plurality of types ofexternal field sensors 22 a is mounted to compensate the strengths andweaknesses of each sensor.

There is a further difference as to whether manual operation isperformed from the interior of the moving body (inside the vehicle) orfrom the outside of the moving body (remote control). Thus, the elementsfor the manual operation of the connected car 2 (the notification unit24 and the manual operation unit 25) are provided in an external manualcontroller 2 c (a notification unit 24 c and a manual operation unit 25c) in the autonomous flying body 2 b, and the manual controller 2 c isconfigured so as to communicate with the autonomous flying body 2 b viaan operation network 9 b which is different from the network 9.

With the above configuration, in the case of the autonomous flying body2 b having no driver, it is possible to appropriately switch automaticoperation/manual operation according to a traveling environmentsimilarly to the case of the connected car 2.

FIG. 8(a) is a plan view showing an example of a 3D route on which theautonomous flying body 2 b in FIG. 7 flies.

FIG. 8(b) is a three-dimensional view when the 3D route in FIG. 8(a) isviewed from a bird's-eye viewpoint. This three-dimensional diagramsimply shows a three-dimensional space, and the three-dimensional spaceincludes buildings A, B, and C, and a tree, and is managed by beingdivided into grids.

It is assumed that the 3D-route-candidate generation unit 12 b generatesthree route candidates from the route “1” to the route “3”. The3D-route-candidate generation unit 12 b adopts the route “2” asdescribed below.

The route “3” passes through the flying-prohibited area set around thebuilding A, and is excluded from the candidates.

The route “1” passes through the space B, in which the reflection fromthe building B is strong and the sensor evaluation value of the externalfield sensor 22 a which has a weakness to backlight and the like is tobe low, and is excluded from the candidates.

In the present embodiment described above, the telematics center 1 thatmanages, with the external-field recognition DB 11, the history data inwhich external environments around the moving object is associated withthe recognition result (success or failure) of each external fieldsensor 22 a in each external environment, provides a moving body such asthe connected car 2 or the autonomous flying body 2 b with history datathat matches or is similar to the current external environment.

For this reason, it is possible for the moving body to appropriatelyperform automatic operation control reflecting the history data of theexternal-field recognition DB 11.

For example, it is possible for the connected car 2 to stably performautomatic operation avoiding erroneous recognition of a camera by notreflecting the recognition result of the camera in the automaticoperation at a tunnel exit where the past sensor evaluation value of thecamera is low but performing the configuration changing processing ofthe configuration change unit 22 c so as to determine whether there is afront obstacle only from the recognition result of the infrared ray.

Furthermore, in the traveling environment inside the winding tunnel inwhich the sensor evaluation value of the camera is low and the sensorevaluation value of the infrared ray is also low, the connected car 2turns off the automatic operation because the section evaluation valueof the section are low, and turns on the manual operation unit 25.

Moreover, it is possible for the connected car 2 to reduce the frequencyof manual operation by not originally adopting a route candidate havingthe route evaluation value that is low such as a route passing manysections having low section evaluation values.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the aboveembodiment and includes various modifications. For example, the aboveembodiment has been described in detail in order for the presentinvention to be easily understood, and is not necessarily limited tothose having all the described configurations.

Furthermore, a part of the configuration of an embodiment can bereplaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and theconfiguration of an embodiment can be added to the configuration ofanother embodiment.

Moreover, other configurations can be added, deleted, or replaced withrespect to a part of the configuration of each embodiment. In addition,the above configurations, functions, processing units, processing means,and the like may be implemented by hardware by, for example, designing apart or all of them in an integrated circuit.

Alternatively, the above configurations, functions, and the like may beimplemented by software by interpreting and executing programs forimplementing each function by a processor.

Information such as programs, tables, and files that implement thefunctions can be stored in a recording device such as a hard disk, or asolid state drive (SSD), or a recording medium such as an integratedcircuit (IC) card, an SD card, or a digital versatile disc (DVD).

Note that, control lines and information lines considered to benecessary for the description are shown, and all control lines andinformation lines are necessarily shown on products. In practice, it canbe considered that almost all the configurations are mutually connected.

Furthermore, the communication means for connecting the respectivedevices is not limited to the wireless LAN, and may be changed to awired LAN or other communication means.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   1 telematics center (center device)-   2 connected car (moving body)-   2 b autonomous flying body (moving body)-   2 c manual controller-   9 network-   9 b operation network-   11 external-field recognition DB (database)-   12 route-candidate generation unit-   12 b 3d-route-candidate generation unit-   13 external-field-sensor evaluation unit-   14 route evaluation unit-   21 automatic-operation planning unit-   22 external-field recognition unit-   22 a external field sensor-   22 b mode switching unit-   22 c configuration change unit-   23 automatic operation unit-   24 notification unit-   24 c notification unit-   25 manual operation unit-   25 c manual operation unit

The invention claimed is:
 1. An automatic operation assistance systemcomprising: a center device configured to manage a database thatassociates a traffic environment in a moving route of a moving body withsensor evaluation values, each sensor evaluation value indicatingrecognition accuracy of a respective one of external field sensors thatrecognize the corresponding traffic environment, the center deviceconfigured to provide a notification to the moving body in accordancewith a request that originated from the moving body, the notificationpertaining to the traffic environment of the moving body from which therequest originated and the sensor evaluation values matching theexternal field sensors; and the moving body being configured to change,on the basis of the sensor evaluation values notified from the centerdevice, a process for reflecting recognition data of the external fieldsensors of the moving body in automatic operation control of the movingbody, wherein the center device is configured to calculate sectionevaluation values obtained by integrating the sensor evaluation valuesof the external field sensors of the moving body for respective routesections included in the moving route, the moving body, based on thesection evaluation values received from the center device, is configuredto turn off automatic operation and urge a driver to perform manualoperation in a route section having the section evaluation value lowerthan a predetermined value, the center device is configured to calculateroute evaluation values for respective moving route candidates, eachroute evaluation value being obtained by integrating the sectionevaluation values of the route sections of the moving route, the movingbody is configured to adopt, as a route for the moving body to be movingon, a moving route candidate having the route evaluation value that ishighest based on the route evaluation values received from the centerdevice, the moving body is configured to change a contribution degree ofeach external field sensor for automatic operation based on a sensorevaluation value of each external field sensor, and the center device isconfigured to evaluate each external field sensor based on a number offalse detections and a number of non-detections in a same environment,and based on a number of occurrences of false detection andnon-detection.
 2. The automatic operation assistance system according toclaim 1, wherein the moving body is configured to change a configurationso as not to use, for automatic operation, recognition data of theexternal field sensors having the sensor evaluation values lower than apredetermined value as the process for reflecting the recognition dataof the external field sensors in the automatic operation control of themoving body.
 3. The automatic operation assistance system according toclaim 1, wherein the moving body is configured to switch operation modesof the external field sensors having the sensor evaluation values lowerthan a predetermined value so as to raise the sensor evaluation valuesas the process for reflecting the recognition data of the external fieldsensors in the automatic operation control of the moving body.
 4. Anautomatic operation assistance method in an automatic operationassistance system configured so as to connect a center device with amoving body via a network, the method comprising: managing, by thecenter device, a database that associates a traffic environment in amoving route of a moving body with sensor evaluation values, each sensorevaluation value indicating recognition accuracy of a respective one ofexternal field sensors that recognize the corresponding trafficenvironment, the center device giving a notification to the moving bodyin accordance with a request that originated from the moving body, thenotification pertaining to the traffic environment of the moving bodyfrom which the request originated and the sensor evaluation valuesmatching the external field sensors; and changing, by the moving body, aprocess for reflecting recognition data of the external field sensors ofthe moving body in automatic operation control of the moving body on thebasis of the sensor evaluation values notified from the center device,the center device calculates section evaluation values obtained byintegrating the sensor evaluation values of the external field sensorsof the moving body for respective route sections included in the movingroute, the moving body, based on the section evaluation values receivedfrom the center device, turns off automatic operation and urges a driverto perform manual operation in a route section having the sectionevaluation value lower than a predetermined value, the center devicecalculates route evaluation values for respective moving routecandidates, each route evaluation value being obtained by integratingthe section evaluation values of the route sections of the moving route,the moving body adopts, as a route for the moving body to be moving on,a moving route candidate having the route evaluation value that ishighest based on the route evaluation values received from the centerdevice, the moving body changes a contribution degree of each externalfield sensor for automatic operation based on a sensor evaluation valueof each external field sensor, and the center device evaluating eachexternal field sensor based on a number of false detections and a numberof non-detections in a same environment, and based on a number ofoccurrences of false detection and non-detection.
 5. The automaticoperation assistance method according to claim 4, wherein the movingbody changes a configuration so as not to use, for automatic operation,recognition data of the external field sensors having the sensorevaluation values lower than a predetermined value as the process forreflecting the recognition data of the external field sensors in theautomatic operation control of the moving body.
 6. The automaticoperation assistance method according to claim 4, wherein the movingbody switches operation modes of the external field sensors having thesensor evaluation values lower than a predetermined value so as to raisethe sensor evaluation values as the process for reflecting therecognition data of the external field sensors in the automaticoperation control of the moving body.